JOHANNESBURG, Friday 28 August 2026 — ANC veteran Frank Chikane has formally joined the party’s Johannesburg election campaign, ending renewed speculation that he had withdrawn from consideration for the mayoralty and placing all three shortlisted contenders into the campaign for South Africa’s largest metro.
The ANC’s Johannesburg leadership met Chikane this week to formally integrate him into its campaign structures ahead of the 4 November local government elections, regional secretary Sasabona Manganye said.
Chikane is competing with incumbent Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero and ANC Johannesburg chairperson and Deputy Mayor Loyiso Masuku for selection as the party’s final mayoral candidate.
The African National Congress introduced all three publicly last weekend after abandoning an initial plan to announce a single preferred candidate.
The party said its final mayoral selections would instead be announced in September.
Chikane’s position had been uncertain after reports last week said he had withdrawn from the contest.
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula subsequently rejected those reports and said Chikane remained one of the three people being considered.
The latest development provides a clearer indication that Chikane is participating in the process.
Photographs released by the ANC Johannesburg region showed him meeting local office bearers, including Masuku, while Manganye said the meeting was intended to welcome Chikane into the region’s election campaign.
Manganye said Chikane had expressed willingness to participate in the campaign.
The ANC’s national leadership has instructed all three mayoral contenders to campaign in Johannesburg rather than allowing the election effort to centre on one candidate before the final selection is made.
Manganye said Morero was already involved through his position as executive mayor and Masuku through her role as the ANC’s regional political head.
Chikane, whose responsibilities have largely been at national level, is now being incorporated into the same campaign operation.
The arrangement creates an unusual three-way campaign within the ANC while the party simultaneously competes against opposition mayoral candidates.
Johannesburg is expected to be one of the most closely contested municipalities in the November election.
The city has been governed through a series of coalition arrangements since the ANC lost its outright majority in 2016.
Its current Government of Local Unity includes the ANC and several smaller parties, with Morero serving as mayor.
The Democratic Alliance has selected Helen Zille as its mayoral candidate, while ActionSA is campaigning behind Herman Mashaba.
Other candidates include the EFF’s Tlaleng Mofokeng, the Patriotic Alliance’s Kenny Kunene, the IFP’s Mlungisi Mabaso, RISE Mzansi’s Lukhona Mnguni and BOSA’s Nobuntu Hlazo-Webster.
Chikane would offer the ANC a substantially different profile from its two internal contenders if ultimately selected.
He chairs the ANC’s Integrity Commission and previously served as director-general in the Presidency during Thabo Mbeki’s administration.
Morero is campaigning partly on his record as incumbent mayor, including work on Johannesburg’s finances, inner-city management and infrastructure.
Masuku, meanwhile, leads the ANC’s Johannesburg regional structure and has received support from sections of the party’s local organisation.
Reports earlier in the selection process indicated that some ANC leaders viewed Chikane as a potential compromise candidate capable of avoiding a direct choice between competing Johannesburg factions.
Those assessments were attributed to party sources and do not constitute an official ANC decision.
The timing is significant because Friday is also the final day for parties to submit candidates to the Electoral Commission of South Africa.
Candidate nominations close at 17:00 on 28 August, after which parties will move into the main campaign period.
Johannesburg’s mayor is elected by councillors after the municipal election rather than directly by voters, meaning the ANC’s mayoral designation is a party campaign commitment rather than a separate position on the ballot.
The immediate development is therefore not Chikane’s final selection but confirmation that he remains actively in contention and will campaign alongside Morero and Masuku while the ANC evaluates its three options.
The party’s September decision will determine which of them becomes the ANC’s principal challenger to Zille, Mashaba and the other mayoral contenders in a metro where coalition arithmetic is likely to remain central to determining who governs.
